Tag Archives: Federalism

Nigeria not working, her existence must be renegotiated – Atiku

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Nigeria as currently constituted is an entity that is rooted in corruption, impunity and injustice and thus must be reconstituted, a former vice-president said on Monday.

Atiku Abubakar, who served under former President Olusegun Obasanjo from 1999-2007, said at a forum in Abuja that the current system is the bane of Nigeria and not the individuals running it.

“Political and civic leaders from across the country must come together, discuss, negotiate and make the necessary compromises and sacrifices needed to restructure our federation to make us a stronger, more united, productive, and competitive country,” Mr. Atiku said while expanding on a paper titled: “Nigerian Federalism: Continuing Quest for Stability and Nation-Building.”

Mr. Atiku has been at the forefront of renewed calls for a reconstituted Nigeria since the beginning of the year.

In June, he used his remarks at a book launch, also in Abuja, to call for a more federal system which would put to rest the disparate yearnings of Nigerians from all sections of the country.

Mr. Atiku said there’s a perennial cry of marginalisation from every section of the country, a situation, he said, was caused by the flaw in the country’s constitution.

“No section of this country can claim correctly that its people are better served by the current structure of our federation. When we were not dependent on oil revenues and when the federating units had greater autonomy of action and were largely responsible for their affairs, they, that is our regional governments, did not owe workers their salaries for several months.

“They did not shut down schools and universities for several months because of teacher strikes and inadequate funding. Take a look at the industries that the regional governments established and ran and the quality of schools that they established, and see if you can see a state government or a group of state governments that have bested them since the emergence of our unitary federalism.

“And also ask yourself which of those establishments taken over or established by the federal government since, has performed as well as they did under our pre-1966 federal system.”

The former vice president said Abuja should be prepared and willing to relinquish some of its powers over the remaining 36 federating units.

This call, Mr. Atiku said, does not mean a call for a break up of Nigeria, but only a call for the imposition of a system where transparency, efficiency and equity will prevail.

“National unity does not mean the absence of disagreement or agitations. In fact disagreements and peaceful agitations indicate vibrant and living relationships,” Mr. Atiku said. “The key to making national progress is to manage those disagreements in peaceful and mature ways.”

Ekwueme, Gana, Others Advocate True Federalism, Power Devolution To States

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Dr Alex Ekwueme, Second Republic Vice-President, former Minister of Information, Prof. Jerry Gana and others, have reiterated their call for true federalism and devolution of powers to the states.

They said that restructuring and resource control by regions was a panacea to end acts of uprising across the country.

Ekwueme spoke in Enugu on Sunday at the 17th Annual Convention of the Igbo Youth Movement (IYM) with the theme `Nigeria, still in pursuit of true fiscal federalism’.

The former vice-president, who chaired the event, said that the British colonialists had earlier divided the country to enable each region control and manage its resources without interference.

“The British colonial masters divided the country in such a way that every region will operate within its constitution,” he said.

The guest speaker and former Information Minister, Prof. Jerry Gana, said that the key solution to Nigeria’s problem was through true federalism and devolution of powers to states.

“True fiscal federalism is the only form of association that will allow peace and stability in the country and each region should be allowed to manage its resources the way they want it,” Gana said.

He noted that the formula for allocating revenue made the Federal Government to get richer while the states operated like beggars.

“States should be allowed to manage its resources to enable them govern their people the way they want and allocate some percentage to the Federal Government.

“Government should not be far from the people and the federating unit should be made strong to meet the needs of the people,” he said.

Gana recommended continuous dialogue and the implementation of the resolutions of national confab by the government as the only means the recent agitation and other national demand could be handled.

A Yoruba leader, Chief Ayo Adeabayo, said that the various acts of political instability in the country were because the constitution under which the country was governed was not good for heterogeneous country like Nigeria.

“To put a stop at the various uprising in the country such as Niger Delta Avengers, MASSOB, IPOB etc, our constitution needs to be changed to allow for restructuring of the country under true federalism.

In her remarks, a Niger Delta Activist, Ms Annkio Briggs, condemned the blasphemy killing of a woman, Bridget Agbamihe, in Kano as well as herdsmen attacks in Nimbo, Enugu State and other parts of the country.

Briggs condemned the destruction of oil and gas pipelines in the Niger Delta, alleging that those avengers were not from Ijaw but Somalia.

Earlier, the founder of IYM, Mr Elliot Uko, said that the event was to honour prominent Nigerians who had contributed to the growth and development of the country.

He said Igbo youths was committed to building a stronger Nigeria and reduced the tension in the region, adding that true federalism would help the country to grow and prosper.

Highlight of the event was presentation of awards to Gana, Adebayo, Nnamdi Kalu and Briggs, for their struggle for peaceful Nigeria.

The event was attended by former governors of Anambra, Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife and Mr Peter Obi, as well as Mrs Maria Okwor, Dr Arthur Nwankwo, and some students from tertiary institutions in the South-East.

 

(NAN)